


I Promise to remember you.

by MelikaJ



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 02:38:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelikaJ/pseuds/MelikaJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set post-ADWD. Brienne has to bury a body, and her memories along with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Promise to remember you.

Brienne smoothed over the last of the dirt, until the ground looked almost flat. A keen observer would see that the earth had been disturbed, but she doubted anyone would pay much attention to a patch of uneven ground in the middle of the Riverlands. The trees around made a clearing, and the pale afternoon light shone through, illuminating Brienne’s hands as she patted the ground, before abruptly standing up.

 

She felt like she should say something, or put something there as a marker, but she knew if anyone realised who was buried here, then they may desecrate the grave, and Brienne didn’t want to risk that. The dead deserved peace. Some may have renounced this particular dead person as a monster, but Brienne knew that a soft soul resided inside. But she’d had to do the right thing; there had been people depending on her.

 

She closed her eyes, remembering the feel of the blood spraying her hands as she’d plunged Oathkeeper deep into the flesh, watching the life drain out of the person in front of her, the person who she’d truly cared for. It felt like a betrayal, using Oathkeeper to break an oath. But she understood that sometimes you had to break one oath to keep another… Jaime had taught her that when he’d explained how he’d killed Aerys.

 

She wouldn’t allow herself to weep, she had to stay strong, she was a knight. After she’d done the deed, Hyle and Pod had been set free, they were the innocents here. The outlaws had soon departed, leaving Brienne to deal with the dead body. She could have just left it lying there, but that felt wrong. The body had once been a proud human being from a noble house; it should be buried, and put to rest. It felt easier to say ‘it’, rather than think of the person who the body had once been. She sighed deeply and made to walk away, before turning at the last moment.

 

“I promise to remember you. The real you.” She spoke the words with feeling, and allowed the wind to carry away her final promise. A faint rustling in the trees distracted her, and she walked towards the noise.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Jaime asked, and Brienne nodded. She followed him, leaving Lady Stoneheart behind, and remembering the woman who had once been her Lady Catelyn Stark.

**Author's Note:**

> Ha, fooled you! I bet you thought it was Jaime she was burying ;) Hope you enjoyed it, I just felt like writing a (very) short story whilst in the middle of the next chapter of The Way Forward. Please let me know what you thought!


End file.
